The Deacon - Story Outline

The Deacon – Outline

•          Rolland Donaldson pulls into the church parking lot – he is driving a big, expensive car (with a big, roomy trunk) – something he’s acquired since his wife left him

•          He’s driven from the nearby city to get back to this sleepy little town in time for his church meeting – the odd thing is, that he always schedules these meeting for an evening when he’s been away on business for several days

•          He has his own, assigned parking space near the main door, but instead of parking there, he goes around to the backside of the church hall and backs into a parking place near the service door—where he can’t be seen from the street

•          He leads the business meeting of the church deacons, makes a detailed report about the need for some repair work on the parsonage, including a suggested list of contractors and the reasonable expectations of cost

•          He stays after the others go home to their families—supposedly to do some paperwork

•          Every now and then, Rolland goes to a window, looks out, and then shuts the blinds

•          He takes his time, working his way around the large activity room, until all the blinds are shut tight

•          He goes outside to his car, studying his surroundings the entire time

•          When he’s sure that no light can be seen from the outside, he retrieves a gym bag from the backseat of his car and takes it back inside

•          He turns off the inside light (working just with the lights from the parking light), hold the door open with a chair and goes to the trunk of his car

•          Clicks the trunk release—there in the dimness of the trunk light—is a teenage girl, trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, with duct tape across her mouth

•           He makes one more scan of the parking lot and surrounding area, then, sure he’s not being watched, he hoists the girl from the trunk

•          He isn’t able to throw her over his shoulder and is forced to half carry—half drag her through the door

•          Once inside, he kicks the chair away from the outer door, allowing it to automatically close and lock, and flips on the lights again

•          He dumps his victim on the floor, goes back and double-checks the door, before he uses a box-cutter to cut the bindings around her legs, not caring if he cuts her as well, yanks her to her feet, grabs his gym bag, and pulls her along to an inner door

•          The Baptist church was built around the Revolutionary War—and there is an access area beneath—it  is more than a crawl space, but less than an actual cellar

•          There is an access door to this space from a half-door in the back of a large utility closet—he takes her through the closet, down into the cellar space

*    *    *

•          In the wee, dead hours of the night, Rolland exits the church hall and scans the area before getting into his car and leaves for home

•          On the drive, he swings behind several restaurants, and throws bags into their dumpsters

•          At last, he pulls into his garage, wearing a tired, but self-satisfied smirk on his face

•          Then he goes to bed for a few hours of sleep

•          He is at work on time, and much to his co-workers chagrin, abnormally chirper and loquacious

•          Time goes on, and it seems like every time Rolland schedules a business trip, with the exception of the time he flew to New York, he schedules a church meeting for the evening he returns

•          Even the minister has suggested that he not push himself so for the benefit of the church

•          Rolland pontificates on his duty to his position on the church board, and keeps holding the meeting

•          And after each meeting, Rolland remains ‘working’

•          The renovations and repairs are being done on the sanctuary of the church – but Rolland isn’t concerned, as he is personally installing the new circuit breaker board and taking care of any rewiring that is needed

•          News of teen girls missing from the big city reaches even their small community—the townies are thankful the worse crime in their hamlet is the odd candy bar being shoplifted by children

•          Still, parents begin given their teens good stern talking-tos about safety, a program is presented at the local junior and high schools, and the very lax neighborhood watch groups step up their game a bit

•           Smug Rolland doesn’t care—first he would never fish in his own pond, besides, he is too smart and careful to be found out

•          Unfortunately, not all the workers are as careful—One Saturday that church members and contractors alike are working—a carpenter, paying more attention on his approaching quitting time then the task at hand and the nail gun he was using sends a rogue nail through the relatively thin paneling of the  *** and into the fiberglass baptismal tank beneath